The misogynists of India politics

Om Prakash Chautala is an interesting man. Though never at the centre stage of national politics, he has managed to hit national headlines with a regularity disproportionate to his calibre.

He shot to fame in 1990 when he was accused of winning a byelection through fraud and violence. Meham (his assembly constituency) became the by word for all that was rotten in India’s electoral politics. Politics today has become so murky that even a Meham won’t shake the nation’s conscience, as it did 22 summers ago.

There’s another 1990 episode that Chautala would have liked everybody to forget. Sixteen years after teenager Ruchika Girhotra committed suicide following molestation and harassment by Haryana’s director general of police SPS Rathore, her father accused Chautala, who was chief minister when the sexual assault occurred, of having shielded the police officer. Of course, like a good politician, Chautala denied this and claimed he had ordered an investigation against Rathore.

Chautala has been in the news again. Very recently, he endorsed the solution of the khap panchayats to check cases of rape: girls should be married before they turn 16. Following a national outcry, both Chautala and the panchayats ate crow, retracting their statements — as good politicians do. Chautala cited incidents from the Mughal era while trying to wriggle out; the panchayats said “marriage before 16” was the individual opinion of some of their members.

There has been no effort by them to explain the connection between rape and being married early. Or to tell us whether only girls under 16 are raped. And, of course, they find no fault with men, unmarried or married, who ravage infant girls and women as old as 80.

The stance of khaps, self-appointed guardians of social order, is unsurprising. Given their regressive thinking and the atrocious “justice” they hand out, one couldn’t have expected better. It is the politician’s statement that is a source of worry. What Chautala would like us to believe was a harmless statement is actually one that shows how much harm politicians like him can do to society. He and other Haryana politicians do not even make a pretence of having any concern for women’s lot.

The goal of these social reactionaries is to keep women subjugated and under male control. In Chautala Land, early marriage often means having children early and a full stop to education, that means of broadening one’s vision and developing intellect.

Chautala and his ilk can’t care less about these. Keeping them company are the likes of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Sharad Yadav and some worthies from the Congress and BJP. They see an Armageddon happening whenever there’s an effort to reserve seats for women in the legislatures.

Lalu and Mulayam have made women from their families chief minister and MP, but their virulence at any suggestion to empower women is to be seen to be believed.It’s essential to know who in today’s cacophonic politics has a thought for women.

We can make a beginning by the exclusion method. Mulayam, Lalu and Chautala have shown they don’t have a heart for that half of society whichneeds special attention and opportunities. A passing thought: Ever busy hurling muck, has Arvind Kejriwal formulated the stance of his yet-to-be-born outfit on women’s empowerment? Barring corruption by politicians of a certain persuasion, he doesn’t seem to have anything to talk about.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Author

Shirish Koyal, a senior editor with TOI, has spent more than half his life working for TOI. Whether he's watching TV, reading on the Web, working in the office or taking a walk, he discerns social faults and cracks, and agonizes over them. He has bittersweet feelings about the vocation he embraced about three decades ago. But, for now, he's holding the truce. Before you start thinking he's totally surly, let us tell you he loves listening to music (not all), reading poetry (some), walking on beaches (only clean ones), and cooking (once in a blue moon).

Shirish Koyal, a senior editor with TOI, has spent more than half his life working for TOI. Whether he's watching TV, reading on the Web, working in the off. . .

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Author

Shirish Koyal, a senior editor with TOI, has spent more than half his life working for TOI. Whether he's watching TV, reading on the Web, working in the office or taking a walk, he discerns social faults and cracks, and agonizes over them. He has bittersweet feelings about the vocation he embraced about three decades ago. But, for now, he's holding the truce. Before you start thinking he's totally surly, let us tell you he loves listening to music (not all), reading poetry (some), walking on beaches (only clean ones), and cooking (once in a blue moon).

Shirish Koyal, a senior editor with TOI, has spent more than half his life working for TOI. Whether he's watching TV, reading on the Web, working in the off. . .